So, I can't find my hotspot.

[Adrian's Dome]

So, I'm having home internet issues which I can't solve, which has led me to turn to using my phone's personal hotspot to connect, which has also presented me with issues I can't solve.
 
Hooray technology.
 
Anyway, I have an AT&T iPhone 5s which is hotspot-enabled through my plan, and it's set up, but I've never previously used it. Today I tried over WiFi, and although the phone says the hotspot is enabled and should be discoverable, it's not. No other devices are showing my phone through their available networks. I did manage to connect through the phone's connection via Bluetooth eventually, so the service is actually enabled and there, I just don't know why it's not broadcasting via WiFi. Any ideas?

 

[86spike]

Pick up the first season of Sex and the City. Samantha will show you how to find it.

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Pick up the first season of Sex and the City. Samantha will show you how to find it.

 
Glad someone took a hack at the meatball, at least.

 

[JVglove2face]

Not much to add here except to say that I have a 5S on Verizon and my wifi hotspot can be tricky and it takes a while to get recognized by my wifi iPad. Sometimes I convince myself that the order of operations is important ie wifi on, then hotspot on, etc. but its probably confirmation bias. I usually mess around with it for 10 minutes and then it will randomly connect without prompting. Its maddening.

 

[singaporesoxfan]

What's your phone's name? Is it just "John Smith's iPhone" or do you have non-ASCII characters in it? One possibility is that your phone is broadcasting a funky network name that other computers don't recognize.
 
Also, is wi-fi on your phone on? I'm not sure why but I think hotspot requires your wi-fi to be on.

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Just says "Steve's iPhone". Tried both wifi on and off, didn't make a difference.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

Just says "Steve's iPhone". Tried both wifi on and off, didn't make a difference.

Apple should have taken care of any bugs associated with that string...

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Apple should have taken care of any bugs associated with that string...

Should I change the name of my phone to a single word or something and see if it works?

 

[derekson]

Have you tried joining the network by manually entering the network name? It would be interesting to see if it's just an issue on broadcasting the SSID or whether the network just isn't working at all.
 
What version of iOS is running on the phone?

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Have you tried joining the network by manually entering the network name? It would be interesting to see if it's just an issue on broadcasting the SSID or whether the network just isn't working at all.
 
What version of iOS is running on the phone?

 
Tried that. Didn't work.
 
Newest iOS. Problem was there with the last one, still there now.

 

[derekson]

If you haven't already tried this, maybe try resetting network settings in settings -> general -> reset.

 

[Adrian's Dome]

If you haven't already tried this, maybe try resetting network settings in settings -> general -> reset.

 
Also did that. Thinking this has got to be some sort of hardware issue.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

 
Also did that. Thinking this has got to be some sort of hardware issue.

Can you get to an Apple store and ask a Genius?

 

[Adrian's Dome]

derekson managed to find a fix, if anyone else is having the same problem: flip the hotspot option on/off three or four times, then leave it on and wait for it to begin broadcasting.
 
I have no idea why the hell that worked, but it did.

 

[JVglove2face]

Yup that's pretty much what I was trying to say upthread. Very annoying.